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How do psychic mediums know stuff about you

bluesjnr said:
It means that I wondered why you consistently asked the same questions despite having things repeatedly explained. When asked why by Pixel42, I was interested to see how you'd respond, ergo, "let's see where his goes".

You very kindly provided a completely cromulent explanation and went on to give a lot more detail. Thank you for that.



If I sounded suspicious it's because I was. We've had many people pop in to tell us about their epiphany and it's simply been a smokescreen to push their woo, often with leaders like, "how do you explain THIS then?", despite having things explained, often in great detail.

You didn't, on the face of things, seem like that kind of poster but my spider senses were tingling a wee bit.

Time has shown that you are genuinely on your journey towards a more sceptical outlook and I hope that this journey helps you get rid of some of the baggage you've been left by "well meaning" mediums, psychics and the religious community.

I trust this explains what, "that was supposed to mean".
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Thanks for your reply. Trust me I am seeking solice within non religious/normality. It's religion that can make mental illness worse, it's good for some but definitely not for others
 
Wudang said:
To add to bluesjnr's post: we have so many people pretending to be open-minded and "just asking questions" (aka JAQ) and not reading the answers to the questions that someone coined the phrase "JAQing off" to describe the phenomenon.

Thanks to you and isisxsn for your description of how OCD actually affects people. I think most of us view as it's portrayed in films.
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Yeah, for whatever reason, shows and films latched onto portraying OCD as "obsessively tidy" and "checks if they really locked the door a million times." That's about it. While those can certainly be symptoms for some people, it's not what the condition is really about. It has much more to do with thought patterns, looping thoughts, anxiety, and strange coping behaviors.

My maternal uncle has it too, so there seems to be a genetic component in our line. He's much worse than me. He has full-blown agoraphobia now, and he lives in squalor even though he has money. He's terrified of germs, washes his hands hundreds of times a day until they are raw and chapped, but his house is filthy and full of stacks of old newspapers and such. It seems really illogical on its face, but that's just how that devil OCD works sometimes.

AmyW, I'm glad to hear you're starting CBT. It seems to have pretty good results for people with these issues. I've found it helpful, though I've only ever done the self-help workbooks.
 
AmyW said:
Did you really, and it worked?
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Not me, but yes. It's very common, you have the psychic, astrologer or whatever do a write up for a group of people, give everyone all of them and tell them to pick the one that applies to them. Comes out as chance which one they get. Richard Dawkins did a variation where he printed up 12 nice illustrated star sign cards, each with exactly the same 'reading' (which was made for a particular sign) and gave random people the card relating to their sign. Lots of them of all signs said it applied to them accept (coincidentally) IIRC the star sign it was written for.

Have a watch of Richard Dawkins "Enemies of Reason" documentary. It was made for Channel 4 in the UK. I think it's on YouTube and may be on C4 Player if your in the UK. It's an easy watch and covers a lot of the groundwork.
 
If ghosts exist does this mean that mediums aren't fake because they claim to speak with the dead?
 
AmyW said:
If ghosts exist does this mean that mediums aren't fake because they claim to speak with the dead?
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Don't put the cart before the horse. Until the two words highlighted are resolved into at least probabilities there is no conclusion to draw.
 
AmyW said:
If ghosts exist does this mean that mediums aren't fake because they claim to speak with the dead?
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Even if ghosts exist - which is very unlikely because of a boring thing called physics - there is no reason to believe that a single medium has ever been in contact with them. After all, countless mediums have been exposed as charlatans exploiting the gullible.

You could also think of the vacuous messages that the ghost or spirit believers claim has been delivered: they are more reflective of the fantasy world that the believers wish for than a description of what happens after death. Also think of how different cultures have different ghost stories, like when Hindus speak about their gods, whereas Western mediums have their own feel-good fantasies. All points to the fact that the mediums adapt their spin to the expectations of their customers.

And the gaffes that happen when mediums tell us that there is life in Mars - spoken at a time when the medium thought that nobody could ever disprove this. These days, spirit life needs to be further away in order not to embarrass the medium.

Nope, most likely all mediums are fake.
 
Good point there, am I right on saying the Bible states that mediums are evil? Yes most mediums claim to believe in the Christian God.....
 
Not evil so much as "detestable in the eyes of the Lord". And supposed Christians are very good at quoting the verses that suit their purpose. You see many condemning homosexuality on the basis of Leviticus 18:22 "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." Elsewhere in Leviticus you will also find the following are also abominations : "Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you." Notice the angry demonstrators outside seafood restaurants? "Do not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material."
 
AmyW said:
Good point there, am I right on saying the Bible states that mediums are evil? Yes most mediums claim to believe in the Christian God.....
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Interesting observation but perhaps it would be more correct to say "most mediums in my society claim to believe in the Christian God". That is if you've done some research on the subject.

I wonder about mediums in other, non Christian, countries.

It occurs to me that this thread should be titled "How do psychic mediums make you believe they know stuff about you"
 
And Guilliarmo Del Toro's film of "Nightmare Alley" is set to start filming in January.

The novel goes into detail about exactly how phony mediums run their scam. The 1947 film shows some of that but not as much as the novel. Hopefully the 2021 film will show more.

And you can't complain about the cast: Bradley Cooper as Stan, the carnival side show scam artist who tries for the big time as a phony medium, and Cate Blanchette as the dishonest Psycharist who joins him in his schemes.
 
dudalb said:
And Guilliarmo Del Toro's film of "Nightmare Alley" is set to start filming in January.

The novel goes into detail about exactly how phony mediums run their scam. The 1947 film shows some of that but not as much as the novel. Hopefully the 2021 film will show more.

And you can't complain about the cast: Bradley Cooper as Stan, the carnival side show scam artist who tries for the big time as a phony medium, and Cate Blanchette as the dishonest Psycharist who joins him in his schemes.
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I just recently watched the '47 film. Impressive, educational, and disturbing. I look forward to the new one.
 
AmyW said:
Good point there, am I right on saying the Bible states that mediums are evil? Yes most mediums claim to believe in the Christian God.....
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Yes.

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Leviticus 20:6

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. Leviticus 20:27

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Deuteronomy 18:10-12
 
Are there eastern countries that have mystics (psychic mediums) who claim they can talk to the dead who aren't Christian?

On another note I've just received a copy of Dawkins the God delusion, is it any good? Can't wait to read it :-)
 
AmyW said:
Are there eastern countries that have mystics (psychic mediums) who claim they can talk to the dead who aren't Christian?

On another note I've just received a copy of Dawkins the God delusion, is it any good? Can't wait to read it :-)
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Don't think there is any culture in the world that hasn't historically claimed the dead speak to the living.
 
The Bible ***** on mediums because its authors viewed them as competition. How could they establish their religion as the vehicle for ultimate truth when all these diviners are running around claiming to have connections to the "other side" as well? Possibly giving contradictory information on spirituality? That's all it is. It's basically politics and a bit of marketing.

To answer the question of why so many modern mediums claim to be Christian despite the Bible's slamming of mediums - most modern Christians haven't actually read the Bible. Also, they tend to ignore the bits they don't like. That's why there are so many Christians who shriek that being gay is a sin but happily eat shellfish without a second thought.

Simply put, people are full of crap and always have been. The Bible authors were full of crap, the mediums are full of crap, everyone is just full of crap. They're trying to sell you on their brand of religion. Don't let them. Treat them like the obsequious salesmen they are!
 
AmyW said:
On another note I've just received a copy of Dawkins the God delusion, is it any good? Can't wait to read it :-)
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I have a copy and I would not get that excited about it. Its just another atheists opinions, and the only thing it taught me is I am a deist not a theist.
 
AmyW said:
On another note I've just received a copy of Dawkins the God delusion, is it any good? Can't wait to read it :-)
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It's written to an audience, a long time atheist won't find anything new in it, but for someone coming to the realisation that gods are not necessary or evidenced it's generally considered a good read. Dawkins is a good writer and I think you'll enjoy it. You might want to check out his two documentary mini series "Root of All Evil" & "Enemies of Reason" too.
 
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